Pleasant Prairie Triathlon - International Race - TriathlonOlympic

this was a comedy of bad choices; I always wimp out when it comes to seeding myself in a wave start and as a result started smack-dab in the middle of the pack and fought through arms and legs to the first bouy. Rounded it well, and was immediately blinded by the sun straight in my eyes. Weaved blindly to the next turn bouy; and then headed fairly straight through the home stretch. Probably swam an extra 100-150 yards; this swim reminded me of my gimpy golf prowess: left, right, left, right across the fairway. It was so bad on the back stretch that I had to laugh.

Get a set of mirrored-lensed goggles; the sun was brutal with the clear lenses; at least they didn't fog up; using the anti-fog was a big plus. I think it's better to start at the front in the swim even if I get run over by the fish.

this was a good T1 for me; still had to sit down to get wet suit off of first leg; but the body glide was helpful in keeping the suit from sticking anywhere and the ProMotion wet suit feature of zippers at the ankles is fantastic. Ran the very long distance to the bike-out area (I was as far away from bike-out as you could be so it was a long run with my bike in tow) and hopped on the bike, rode with feet on top of shoes for about 200 yards until HR was at a normal pace and then slipped feet in shoes, just like in practice (love that Cossack Drill).

Not wear a wet suit when the water is warm so that I don't have to fuss with taking it off, but otherwise was a good T1 for me.

Goals on the bike for this race were to try and pace myself in preparation for a good run, to hydrate effectively and to stay aero for the entire bike event. Felt good about the performance in all of these: nutrition on the bike consisted of 2 Endurolytes (actually taken 30 mins pre-swim), Aero-drink bottle with 2 Nuun Tablets, bottle on bike with 1 Nuun tablet, 1 PowerGel with 25 mins left on bike course. This set me up well for the run and kept me focued during the bike. The bike course was not as crowded as I expected (given the 2 loop of the Sprint course change); I think this was due to it being a mostly closed course so you could ride freely on the left side of the yellow line without worry of becoming a hood ornament.

Maybe push a little harder on the bike? I really wanted to keep the effort here in check so that I didn't blow the run. Felt very compfortable through the bike course. Wouldn't change anything given the pre-race goals I set for myself.

Slipped feet out of shoes on approach to T2 (it gets a little tight through the chute to the transition area), great dismount, running with bike and then disaster...ran down the wrong aisle had to back-track and find the correct one, then found spot. Lost 30-40 seconds easily on that.

I usually like to practice the transitions via walk-through several times b4 I leave transition to start the race. Did not arrive early enough for that this time and paid for it.

nutrition performance on bike set me up for a very good run. Felt very strong and enjoyed this part of the race a lot.

I've struggled with nagging injuries all year (ITB, calf strains, etc.), so other than stay healthy so that I could have been improving my run performance over the course of the year, there's nothing more I could do here. Would have liked to have had my Garmin data for the run, but I forgot to start it on the bike so it spent most of the run segment "acquiring satellite". When it was ready, I was almost half-way through the run. Leave the Garmin at home on race day. It's just one more piece of crap to have to worry about.

tried not to fall over, wobbled to the water tent, got a banana and a bagel, walked around until I could feel my legs again. Then, having promised my wife I'd be home by 11:00am, made the slow trek back to the car and drove back to Northbrook.


I'm happy with the fact that I PR'ed by 7 minutes over a very similar course in the Chicago Triathlon last year, but if I'm realistic about analyzing these performances, I see that (other than the bike) I have not really improved all that much over the course of a year: my swim time was almost identical to last year's Accenture time, and the run time was improved only by means of a good nutrition strategy on the bike (IOW, if I hadn't cramped on the run b/c of lack of elctrolytes, my run time would have been the same or better last year at Accenture). This leads me to a stunning ;-)conclusion: my training was not as good this year as last. I need more high-intensity training; too much "mushy" crap. I could also benefit from a coach.


This is a great race and I would love to do it again next year.